http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Keep-Smiling/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Keep Smiling en-us Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:36:47 +0000 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:36:47 +0000 Friday 20 to Sunday 22 NovemberI have a theory that taxi drivers here in Mumbai are unlike other human beings. They have four pairs of eyes one pair on either side of their heads another pair at the back and a fourth pair where other mere mortals have theirs at the front. Between all of these is little in the way of grey matter. At least that's how it seems. When we arrived at Mumbai Airport o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-454771.html Wednesday 18 to Friday 20 NovemberHow can I best describe our experience here on Keralarsquos backwaters Umm well itrsquos rather like a cross between a luxury cruise on the Nile and a pleasure boat on the Norfolk Broads. For readers whorsquove never done either perhaps I should explain... On Egyptrsquos River Nile large luxurious airconditioned cruise boats glide from temple to to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kollam/blog-454619.html Saturday 14 to Wednesday 18 NovemberIt rained almost nonstop during our 3 hour journey from Kanyakumari but it eased shortly before we reached Varkala. Little did we know that this was merely a lull before the stormHaving struggled to find a way by road into the Varkala Marine Palace and eventually coming to a halt at the foot of a steep incline by their tradesmenrsquos entrance we were met http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Varkala/blog-453328.html Kanyakumari Friday 13 NovemberThe breakfast buffet at the GRT Regency in Madurai was one of the best Irsquove ever seen fresh pineapple juice freshlysliced papaya and pineapple cereals toast cakes croissants and chocolatecovered doughnuts Indian foods of almost every type for vegetarian and nonvegetarian diets lots of westernstyle things like chicken sausages eggs cooked to or http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Kanyakumari/blog-453115.html Wednesday 11 Thursday 12 NovemberThe KeralaTamil Nadu border was just a few kilometres away and after writing our names and addresses in duplicate on a piece of paper and paying a Rs250 interstate tax we were allowed through the barrier. We drove past the huge pipelines funnelling Periyarrsquos water to Tamil Nadursquos hydroelectric plant down onto the plains below. The change in the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Madurai/blog-452676.html Lake Periyar Monday 9 to Wednesday 11 NovemberMondayrsquos journey from Munnar took us first to the internet caf in the town to upload my latest blog and to check email then onto a winding road through the tea plantations. The weather was fine at first we even saw some blue sky for the first time in days but as tea gave way to cardamom plantations the cloud returned and down came the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Periyar-National-Park/blog-452626.html Munnar Friday 6 Saturday 7 Sunday 8 NovemberThe patter of raindrops on Hornbillrsquos thatched roof the croaking of a thousand frogs and the growing stuffiness in the tent caused by a lack of electricity to power our overhead fan woke us up before 7.00a.m. As night turned into day the rain eased and the gardening boy gathered up leaves and some coconuts that had fallen in the night. Two p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Munnar/blog-451873.html Thattekkad Wednesday 4 Thursday 5 NovemberOur driver with his airconditioned Tata Indigo car arrived promptly at 9.00a.m. Wersquod already had another enjoyable breakfast on the terrace at the Fort House Hotel and paid our bill so left straight away for our 100kms drive to Thattekkad. It took almost an hour to leave the city of Kochi and emerge onto the lessbusy country road. There gre http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Salim-Ali-Bird-Sanctuary/blog-451342.html Fort Kochi Monday 2 Tuesday 3 NovemberAn ontime Jet Konnect flight took us south in around 1 hours to Kochi formerly Cochin where a prearranged taxi from the Fort House Hotel awaited us. It took almost as long to travel by road from the airport to Fort Kochi as it did to fly down from Mumbai. The road through Ernakulum and across bridges connecting the outlying islands was busy and the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-451333.html Mumbai formerly Bombay Saturday 31 October Sunday 1 November If you saw ldquoSlumdog Millionairerdquo and watched the recent terrorist drama unfold here in Mumbai yoursquoll have already seen where we spent this Sunday. As we sipped our 500 Rupee GBP6.50 beers at the luxurious Taj Mahal Hotel on Colabarsquos waterfront it wasnrsquot lost on Lajpal that wersquod just experienc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-451327.html I've been trying to work out exactly when I first travelled to India and how many times I've been back and whyMy research took me back to my old passports the Passport Office used to be quite happy to cut off the corner of your previous document and return it to you with your new one. My very first passport was issued in April 1962 in the days when I was carving out a career in the travel i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/blog-447571.html Kyle of Tongue Lochinver Ullapool Durnoch Shin Falls Lairg InvernessToday felt like a typical Sunday back home very few people on the streets and very few cars on the road except of course this was the far north of Scotland and every day seemed to be just like thisThe weather was changeable bright one minute overcast the next sometimes blue sky sometimes black with looming c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/The-Highlands/blog-442134.html The Strathnaver Trail and the Kyle of TongueIt was Saturday and we expected terrible weekend traffic on the narrow roads of this tourist trail. It certainly proved to be like nothing wersquod ever experienced before. We drove all day and if it hadnrsquot been for a veteran sports car rally of 20 cars travelling in the opposite direction our total tally of vehicles would have been one Royal http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/The-Highlands/blog-438589.html John orsquoGroats Castle of Mey Dunnet Head Kyle of TongueWe woke on Friday to the mooing of cows and a bright sunrise a good omen for the sunny day that was to follow. Over breakfast we talked with fellow guests about their very enjoyable day trip to the Orkneys. We canrsquot fit that into our itinerary this time but we always have to keep something for next time Instead we drove http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/The-Highlands/blog-438539.html Portknockie Bow Fiddle Rock Sandend Portsoy Gardenstown Crovie Pennan Macduff Dunrobin Castle Thurso MurkleAfter a grey start and another enormous breakfast we ventured forth into an increasingly bright Wednesday. Our journeys today took us along the coast road to the east of Findochty passing hundredacre fields that had been recently harvested and were now full of giant cy http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Banff/blog-438521.html Inverness Findochty Spey Bay Cullen PortgordonThis is a land of lochs and whisky seascapes seals and sunsets. Aye Pat and I are in the north of Scotland not yet at the most northernmost tip of mainland Britain but a fair way north anyway. That northerly point has to wait a day or two. For now wersquore staying with friends at Findochty about 50 miles to the east of Inverness Airp http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Inverness/blog-438284.html There it was in red and yellow the packet of cereals on our breakfast table confirmed what most French people would like you to believe the worldrsquos international language is French not English. The only English words on this packet were ldquoCorn Flakesrdquo. Details of what they were made of how to serve them and volumes of nutritional advice were in French Dutch Spanish Italia http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Languedoc-Roussillon/blog-414165.html After writing my blog on Saturday and exchanging French pleasantries with one of the Cameroonians at my underground internet place I ventured out into Vaci utca once again. It was far too cold to go too far so I headed off to my favourite Central Market. When I got there it was closed. Noone had mentioned that Saturday was earlyclosing day. I bought a snack and returned to my warm nay hot http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/Pest/blog-228301.html They call it 'dental tourism'. Alas in my view at least the two words really don't belong together. 'Dental' relates to injections drilling sore gums and all sorts of other unpleasantness arguably none of it selfinflicted. 'Tourism' on the other hand is something pleasurable interesting sights sounds smells some better than others and tastes apart from occasional sore feet from http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-227773.html How can I say this without offending my regular dentist Oh to hell with it... You're ripping me off There I've said it. Now I can tell you what I'm doing in Budapest Queen of the Danube and capital of Hungary.Over the past year or so I've had problems on more than one occasion with crowns on two of my upper front teeth you know they're the ones right at the front which everyone sees when http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/Pest/blog-219543.html